Jeffers: Arsenal's future is special

"The only thing was that I worried for them a bit. I wondered how they would get their chance at a club like Arsenal and how often they would figure in the first team. But that is the kind of problem young players face at big clubs like Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea. It is something you have to handle."

Reaching the semi-finals of the Carling Cup has provided a platform for some of those youngsters but Jeffers would discourage any from letting fame go to their heads.

At 17, he was one of the hottest properties in football - but then came the backlash. As he put it: "It was all started by injuries and you could say I suffered from them for three years in all. It was a nightmare."

Despite that, he insists he has no regrets over his two years in the wilderness at Arsenal, starting only 12 first-team games following his £7.5million move from Goodison in the summer of 2001. He moved back to Merseyside on loan after being sent off against Manchester United in the Community Shield at the being of this season.

Jeffers said: "I have no regrets about the move, none at all. What is the point of those? You can only look forward. I have never lost confidence or faith in my ability, not once. All I want is for someone now to have faith in me.

"I am on loan so I am still an Arsenal player. And if I go back to Arsenal next season, I will have the same attitude as I had before - to do my best."

Jeffers's best memories of his time at Arsenal are of the FA Cup but they are tinged with sadness. He played in every round last season - earning an England cap against Australia along the way - before another injury robbed him of the chance to face Southampton in the final. He explained: "It is strange. In my first season I had a Championship medal and also an FA Cup winners' medal. I also got one last year. But I have yet to play in a final.

"I have the medals that I wanted from the move to Arsenal but I didn't play in the games I wanted to be involved in - like the FA Cup finals."

The move back to the team he supported as a boy was designed to help recapture the form which originally convinced Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger he was the 'fox in the box' to play alongside Thierry Henry.

However, Jeffers has made only 11 appearances for Everton, has yet to get on the scoresheet and remains unclear about his long-term future.

Wenger, who has seen on-loan Arsenal players Moritz Volz ( Fulham) and Jermaine Pennant (Leeds) play against the club this season, said: "I wanted to give Franny an opportunity to play and to gain confidence again.

"He has made one step forward in that he hasn't been injured for a long time. I'm sure that if he stays without injury, he can come back to his best level. He will certainly come back to us at the end of the season. I cannot say what will happen then, though."

Jeffers is now experiencing at close range the attention focussed on another of football's great young talents - Wayne Rooney - and he has been there for the 18-year-old.

"There was an awful lot of expectation at the start of the season and I have been there to help Wayne," said Jeffers. "But it was something he had to experience for himself. That is the same for everybody in life.

"People tell you this will happen and that will happen but until it does, you can't know what it is like. But he is fine now. He is flying."